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Friday, September 11, 2015

A Wake-Up Call to Rod Meredith

“As a former Protestant with many family members still Protestant, I feel compelled to warn you of a soon-coming disaster!”

So begins Rod Meredith’s article, “A Wake-Up Call to All Protestants!” in the September-October 2015 issue of the Living Church of God’s Tomorrow’s World magazine.

Ok, Rod, you have my attention. I left the Church of God community and am now what you would call a “Protestant.” What’s up?

Apparently Protestantism is becoming irrelevant because “mainstream” Christian churches are trying to fit in with the world and don’t stand for anything anymore. Gone are the faithful ministers who strongly condemn fornication, drugs, drunkenness, lying, cheating and other immoral behavior from the pulpit.

“Do such God-fearing, Bible-believing ministers still exist anywhere?”Certainly not in “mainstream” Protestantism!” Meredith contends. “For if any such faithful Bible-believing minister like this did exist in any of these churches, he would soon be fired or figuratively “run out of town”.

This is news to me, as well as the other 3,500 members of my church, who have not run my Protestant pastor out of town after he made any of the following comments from the pulpit during the last 12 months:

“God's will for you is that you would become more like Jesus, and the first thing that the Bible addresses as we seek to become more like Jesus is that we should abstain from sexual immorality. Notice that phrase: "that you should abstain from sexual immorality." The word "abstain" there means to stay as far away from something as possible. And the Greek word for sexual immorality there—in English, it's two words. In Greek, it's one word. The Greek word is "porneia." We get our word "pornography" from that word for sexual immorality. It's a word that refers to any kind of sexual sin. It covers the whole spectrum. It covers pornography. It covers homosexuality. It covers adultery. It covers marital unfaithfulness. It covers premarital sex. It covers dirty, lustful thoughts. It involves filthy talk. It covers dirty jokes. It covers anything that is sexually impure before God. And the Bible says we should abstain from those things. We should get as far away from it as possible.”

“Look down in verse 7 of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Notice there, the Bible casts an even broader net. It says, "For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness." Now, the word "porneia" is a broad word for all kinds of sexual immorality, but the word "uncleanness" there in verse 7 includes any type of immorality, whether it's sexual immorality or any kind. The word for "uncleanness" can refer to drinking and drunkenness. It can refer to lying. It can refer to cheating. It can refer to stealing. It can refer to mistreating other people. In short, anything that is displeasing to God—the Bible says God did not call you to that. Listen, God did not save you so that you can indulge your life in sin. And yet there are many Christians who think that, because they're saved, and because God's mercy has reached down and touched them, and they have been made clean by the blood of Jesus Christ, and they have a home in heaven, that they can turn around and live however they please. And friend, it doesn't work that way."

"I am appalled by those who call themselves Christians, and yet they've justified sins, just made excuses for all kinds of sins, from the use of alcohol and drugs to homosexuality to abortion to premarital sex. And I believe the heart of God is broken by Christians who have called light, darkness, and darkness, light and who are even turning away and walking away from their marriages, as though their vows to God meant nothing.”

“Friend, as a follower of Jesus Christ, God wants you to tell the truth, to be honest and to live with integrity, whether you’re under oath or not under oath. Whether you’re talking to someone casually or whether it’s a serious conversation, whether it’s in business or it’s in school or whether it’s in a relationship. Whether it seems like a major lie or a little white lie… He wants you to be honest, to tell the truth, and to live with integrity. Because we serve the Lord Jesus Christ, and He has said, I am the way… and what? The Truth… and the life…”.

Wow. I see Rod's point. That guy is a spineless jellyfish. (Sarcasm intended).

Are there liberal Protestant churches out there? Absolutely. Probably more than there should be. But are there conservative ones that uphold moral standards? Absolutely. You might have to look around a bit to find one that “stands for something,” as Meredith's article puts it. But what he wrote is intended to discourage you from doing that.

Make no mistake. I suspect this article is not intended as a “wake-up call” to Protestants, although if it dragged a few in to add to LCG’s dwindling tithe base, Rod wouldn’t cry. But I am willing to bet it was intended to discourage unhappy Living Church of God members from looking elsewhere (as we know many of you are). Why do I think that?

Because right after Rod gets done telling us how bad the Protestants are, he starts in on the Catholic Church. Wait a minute. I thought this article was a wake-up call for Protestants. Why is he drawing Catholics into this? Now, I’m not Catholic, but I certainly have met some Catholics in the past few years whom I respect greatly. Some who know more than me about the Bible. And the more I talk to them, the more I see that some of their traditions have more logic and less superstition than I was taught.

Though it's now a cold war instead of hot, the battle between Protestantism and Catholicism is alive and well. Alexander Hislop capitalized on it when he created his disproven theories, and the COGs are only too happy to follow in his footsteps today. COG leaders are almost giddy when they point to the un-Christian ways Catholics and Protestants have interacted throughout history (as Meredith does in this article). There's no way there could be true Christians on either side of that mess! I guess battling and slandering other churches is sin unless you happen to lead a COG splinter. And I'm not just talking about LCG.

Here's the point: If Rod Meredith can scare you into believing that anything outside of LCG is Sodom and Gomorrah, then he stands a better chance of holding onto you and your tithes. Because if all Protestant churches are shallow, immoral social clubs and the Catholic Church is the great whore of Babylon, then why rock the boat and look elsewhere, no matter how unhappy you are in LCG? It's pointless. Sit back down and keep your mouth shut. Oh, and don't forget your offering. After all, next Monday is a Holy Day.

In effort to shore up his crumbling empire, Rod Meredith impugns good men who stand for far more than he ever has; and risk far more than he ever will. Unless you consider the risk Meredith stands for bearing false witness against men of God. As a former COG member with many family members still COG, I feel compelled to warn you: Wake up yourself, Rod, and repent of your errors. Unless they're not simply errors...

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It is important that you understand; Everything on this blog is based on the current understanding of each author. Never take anyone's word for it, always prove it for yourself, it is your responsibility. You cannot ride someone else's coattail into the Kingdom. ; )Acts 17:11
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5 comments:

Well written and excellent points indeed. Mind control was always at the centre of Armstrongism, and these guys have been so thoroughly trained at Ambassador College that one can be truly thankful for never having been to that college. :-)

Thank you for writing this. I was a member of LCG until I was ostracized, or as the LCG ministers labeled it - "suspended", earlier this year. I was ostracized because I held Roderick C. Meredith and his ministers who are all disciples of the false prophet Herbert W. Armstrong accountable to their own words - "Check up on me", "Don't believe me, believe your Bible"; and because I informed them that they were teaching unbiblical ideas as "doctrine" that are actually doctrines of demons, destructive heresies and the commandments & traditions of men. I am extremely thankful to God for everything that has occured throughout this entire experience with LCG because I got to see their true colors (their fruit)up close and personal. For the last 80 years, the Armstrong adhering COG community have been ignoring the wake up call that God has been trying to get them to hear, which is that they need to follow Jesus Christ and stop following Herbert W. Armstrong and his disciples.

Anonymous, I think I understand where you're coming from. I'm so sorry you had to go through that with LCG - it must have been a trying time in your life - but it sounds like you see that God meant it for good. Blessings to you, and please keep reading!

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WELCOME!! As Bereans Did is a blog dedicated to a deeper investigation of the claims and doctrines of the Church of God movement. We call this movement "Armstrongism", for lack of a better name, after its founder Herbert W Armstrong.

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